Arriving at a small passage between two large buildings, Seven and Leon hid behind a pile of rubble.
"We're here..." Seven murmured.
Looking ahead, he observed a wide avenue with more than fifteen lanes, filled with the carcasses of cars.
"...Brother, are we really going to meet Isis here?"
Crouched right behind his brother, Leon strained to see the avenue.
"No, it's nearby. There's a passage in the space between the avenues."
Pointing, he indicated a structure — an old subway line entrance.
"On the other side of this avenue is where we'll meet them."
"But are you sure? That Isis will be there? We didn't leave from here this morning..."
"Well..."
Seven stopped and lowered his gaze.
I didn't have much time to warn her when we split up, but...
"When I went after the rabbit, I told her to go to the nearest passage, and this is the nearest one."
"I see..."
Turning back toward the street, Seven began scanning between the car carcasses of all different types and sizes.
I don't see anything dangerous...
Looking around, Seven checked the buildings surrounding the avenue and the large bridges that passed over everything.
Nothing unusual there either...
While he observed, Leon, restless, asked:
"...Brother... if we're going to meet her there, why are we taking so long? Don't we just have to go in?"
"No... we can't enter the passages so carelessly, especially one in such an open area."
"But..."
— looking at the shadow covering the buildings —
"...do we have time for this?"
"Not much..."
Turning toward the tops of the buildings, he saw that the last rays of sunlight were already disappearing.
I wanted to be more careful, like Dad taught... but I don't have much time for that.
"...Let's go."
Standing up, they began to move. Using the destroyed car carcasses as cover, they approached quickly until they reached the square.
However, as they drew near the subway entrance, Seven ignored it, which caught his brother's attention.
"Isn't the passage the subway entrance?"
"No, it's blocked."
Approaching it, Leon found it closed, completely sealed by pieces of concrete and car carcasses.
"But then where is it?"
Circling the entrance, passing by some dirty planters and concrete benches, Seven found a metal hatch right beside it.
"Right here..."
He crouched down and began moving it slowly until he finally opened the tunnel.
As soon as he finished, Leon stopped beside him and looked down into the hole, asking:
"Is it safe?"
In silence, staring into that darkness, Seven waited a few moments.
"Let's check. Isis!!"
With a controlled shout so the sound wouldn't escape from inside, he called her.
In silence, both of them stared into the passage, waiting for an answer.
"..."
"Looks like our sister hasn't arrived yet..."
Turning to Seven, Leon asked, "What are we going to do?"
With a complicated expression on his face, Seven sighed bitterly. So she didn't remember this passage...
"...Nothing. At this point they must have already gone back through the passage we used before..."
I hope so.
He thought, clenching his fists.
"Let's go in. You first."
Surprised, Leon turned to his brother with wide eyes.
"Wait, why does it have to be me? Can't you go down first?"
"No. I have to close the passage. The hatch is too heavy for you."
Looking at the hatch, Leon studied it.
"Maybe... maybe I can..."
With a slight smile, Seven reassured him.
"You don't need to worry. The passages are safe. There's no way anything could be inside..."
"But... it's dark..."
"As soon as we reach the bottom, I'll turn on a lantern. The faster we go down, the better."
Looking at Seven and the passage, Leon nodded, though reluctant.
"Okay..."
He went first and began descending the stairs. Seven followed close behind, pulling the metal hatch, when he suddenly stopped.
"..."
Looking up at the sky, Seven could no longer see the sun; it had disappeared behind the buildings.
I... if I had more time, just a little more, I'd go after you...
"Brother, why are you taking so long?!"
Leon, who had already gone down a good part of the staircase, called out with a trembling voice when he noticed the delay.
"L-let's go!"
"I'm coming."
Pulling the rest of the hatch, he closed the passage completely, plunging them into heavy darkness. With only a faint light from a few beams slipping through the cracks of the hatch, they continued downward.
"Brother..."
"Don't worry. As soon as we reach the bottom, I'll turn on the lantern."
Just as he finished speaking — Thump — Seven heard the sound of a dry impact.
Leon had jumped the last steps...
A short while later, reaching the bottom of the stairs, Seven grabbed his backpack and began searching for the lantern.
Where is it...
"I'm going to turn it on... just a second."
Finally, after finding it, he switched it on.
"Done. I told you it would be quick..."
Pointing the lantern around, searching for his brother, "...Leon?"
The spacious tunnel illuminated rustic walls of exposed bricks, with some piles of rubble and organized metal debris near the walls, but he couldn't find him.
Sighing, Seven murmured:
"At a time like this..."
For someone who was afraid of the dark, he sure is playing around a lot.
"Leon, this isn't the time for games. We need to get home soon."
"..."
"If you keep this up, I'm going to leave you behind..."
"..."
Sighing, he said, "Fine. If that's how you want it, I'm going."
He started walking, entering the tunnel, when something wrapped around his feet.
"Wha—!"
Before he could react, he was knocked down and dragged until he was left hanging upside down.
A trap?! Why is there one here?! Wait!!!
Remembering something, Seven shouted:
"Leon, where are you!"
I thought it was some kind of joke! But if there's a trap like this...
He reached for his belt, searching for his knife, but it wasn't there. Quickly looking at the trail he had left while being dragged — illuminated by his fallen lantern — he spotted his knife.
"Damn..."
Along the way he also saw his bow and all the arrows that had been in his quiver, scattered.
"Leon, I don't know where you are, but I'm coming to help you!"
Trying to reach some sharp object — placing his hand on the ground — he swung his body from side to side, but even so he couldn't reach them because of the distance.
What do I do?!
"Hihi."
Hearing something, he stopped swinging and turned toward the sound.
Was that a rat...?
But hearing nothing more, he returned his attention to escaping. Looking around, he tried to find something to help him, but at that moment the lantern light went out.
What?! Why did it go out??
The next instant, Seven froze. From the end of the tunnel came the sound of heavy footsteps — something large. At first distant, they grew steadily closer.
With nothing he could do, Seven remained completely still, listening as the footsteps suddenly ceased.
What was that?
Holding his breath, he tried to identify any sound in the silent environment.
Then he felt something approach from behind, close to his ear, and a hoarse, distorted voice spoke:
"LiTtLe YoU!"
It grabbed him and began pulling him by the backpack.
"DAMN IT!!!"
Struggling to break free, he tried to hit with his fists whatever had grabbed him, but because of the position he was in, he couldn't.
"Let me go!!!"
To his surprise, it obeyed. He was suddenly released.
What the hell was that?! Other humans?! Some kind of humanoid?!
Using one hand to stop the pendulum motion, he prepared for the next attack, even though he didn't know where it would come from.
While he waited, he was suddenly blinded by two lanterns that switched on — forcing him to cover his face — accompanied by the sound of two bursts of laughter.
"Hahaha."
"Hahahaha."
As his eyes adjusted to the light, he lowered his arms and saw two of his siblings, Mia and Victor, both laughing as they looked at him.
Seeing that, Seven clenched his teeth and shouted:
"What the hell do you two think you're doing!!"
Ignoring Seven's anger, they kept laughing, which made him continue.
"That was irresponsible! If—!"
They're here! They're safe and sound!
Relieved to find his siblings, Seven felt all his anger vanish. Thank goodness I worried for nothing in the end...
Sighing in relief, already with a slight smile, he heard another voice coming from behind him.
"Oh, what did you say? 'Irresponsible'?"
The sudden relief disappeared. A shiver ran through his body.
Isis, holding his leg, slowly spun him toward her.
Seven, whose expression had shifted from nervous to relieved just seconds before, changed again. When he looked at his sister, he turned a little pale.
"Could you repeat that? I didn't hear it clearly," she said, crouching down until her face was level with his.
Oh, she's really mad...
Even though she was smiling, her expression was so frightening that Seven couldn't say anything.
"..."
"Go on, continue..."
"W-well..."
Understanding that all of this had been her doing and that, in this situation, there was only one way to resolve it best, Seven quickly made a decision.
He clasped his hands together.
"I'm sorry!"
Nervous, he had also closed his eyes, unable to see how his sister reacted. Everything fell silent for a moment.
Until, breaking the silence, he heard his two siblings:
"Big bro is such a coward sometimes..."
"Yeah..."
Even though he couldn't see them, he knew Mia and Victor were shaking their heads as they spoke, but he chose to ignore it.
"...Why did you leave me alone like that and go after the rabbit..."
"I'm sorry."
Feeling safer, he separated his hands and opened his eyes, turning to his sister.
"At that moment I knew you'd reach the passage safely, so I went after it trusting that... even though you told me not to go..."
"..."
Her expression grew calmer, though still a little tense and with a more serious look. Isis sighed.
"I understand... I'm glad you came back safe. And that you got the rabbit."
"Yes... could you let me down? This position is a bit uncomfortable."
After so long upside down, Seven was starting to feel a little sick.
"I'll let you down, but you have to promise you won't do this again."
"Okay... I won't leave you like that out of nowhere again..."
Satisfied, she stood up and began to walk away from him, but Seven tried to stop her.
"Wait, could you untie—!"
When she cut the rope that held him, he fell awkwardly to the ground.
"—Ow!"
After getting up and straightening his clothes, he suddenly remembered something, stopped, and began looking around.
"Wait, where's Leon?"
Isis answered naturally:
"We tied him up."
"Why?"
"Victor, you can untie him."
"Sure."
Victor left where he was and followed the tunnel to a pile of rubble. Behind it was Leon, completely immobilized with a cloth gagging his mouth.
Tears could be seen streaming down his face, his eyes wet.
"We didn't have time to explain things to him, and even if we had, he might have refused to take part, so we decided to do it this way."
Looking at his younger brother, Seven felt sorry for him.
I'm sorry I made you go through this... I promise you the best piece of the rabbit.
...
The group had already been walking for quite some time underground, moving in single file, even though the space was wide enough for them to walk side by side.
Seven led the way, the only one with the lantern on. Behind him were Mia, Victor, Leon, and finally Isis.
Since it was a service line beside the subway, every so often they came across doors leading to the tracks, but they were all completely blocked.
It's cold in here. Colder than normal...
Being underground, Seven had expected it to be colder, but it had reached a point that really bothered him.
Trying to figure out the temperature, he breathed out warm air, but no mist formed.
This jacket must be making it feel colder than it really is...
He was still wearing Isis's coat, which still hadn't dried, and he felt the ambient temperature was worse than it actually was.
While thinking about this, he realized he had reached a junction.
Approaching it, he stopped a little distance away.
If I'm not mistaken, one leads straight home... but which one?
He couldn't remember exactly which it was, because he also had trouble with tunnels he hadn't used in a long time.
I wish I had my father's memory...
He was the one who had built all the passages in the city and, no matter how much time had passed, he always chose and hit the right path without any doubt.
I need to take the shortest one. It's already night, and if I choose wrong we could get home even later.
"Any problem, Seven?"
Isis, noticing the delay in continuing, turned on her lantern at the back of the line.
"It's nothing."
I think it should be the one on the right...
He started walking again, followed by his siblings.